GRACE NOTES: Wednesday, July 12, 2023

 

Today’s Highlights:

  Cuckoo, by Michael Wynne, directed by Vicky Featherstone, featuring Michelle Butterly, Emma Harrison, Sue Jenkins, and Jodie McNee, opens at London’s Royal Court Theatre.

  I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire, world premiere by Samantha Hurley, directed by Tyler Struble, featuring Tessa Albertson (Shelby), Janae Robinson (Brenda Dee Cankles), and Scott Thomas (Tobey), opens at Off-Broadway’s cell theatre.

  Stew, by Zora Howard, directed by Tyler Thomas, featuring LisaGay Hamilton (Mama), Roslyn Ruff (Lillian), Jasmine Ashanti (Nelly), and Samantha Miller (Lil’ Mama), begins previews at Pasadena Playhouse.

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Broadway Grosses for the week ending July 9.  Click here for the complete analysis.

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  Seattle’s Fifth Avenue Theater has announced its 2023-24 season:

  1776 (Aug. 2-6), directed by Jeffrey L. Page & Diane Paulus.

  The Little Mermaid (Sept. 8 – Oct. 8), directed by Glenn Casale, with choreography by John ManInnis and music direction by RJ Tancioco.

  Cambodian Rock Band (Sept. 29 – Nov. 5), by Lauren Yee, directed by Chay Yew.

  Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Nov. 25 – Dec. 27), directed by David Armstrong & James A. Rocco, with choreography by Rocco.

  Something’s Afoot (Mar. 1-4, 2024), by James McDonald, David Voss & Robert Gerlach, directed by Bill Berry.

  Spring Awakening (June 7-30), directed by Jay Woods, with music direction by RJ Tancioco, and choreography by Katy Tabb.

  Clue (July 9-21), adapted by Hunter Foster & Eric Price, directed by Casey Hushion

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  The national tour of Funny Girl will launch Sept. 9-16 at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

  Katerina McCrimmon (Fanny Brice), Melissa Manchester (Mrs. Brice), Stephen Mark Lukas (Nick Arnstein), Izaiah Montaque Harris (Eddie Ryan), Walter Coppage (Florenz Ziegfeld), Leah Platt (Emma/Mrs. Nadler), Christine Runuan (Mrs. Meeker), Eileen T’Kaye (Mrs. Strakosh), David Foley Jr. (Tom Keeney), and more TBA.

 Click here for the initial  tour schedule.

 Video: Katerina McCrimmon performs “People.”

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  The London production of Cabaret will cross the pond and open on Broadway in Spring 2024 (dates TBA) at the August Wilson Theatre, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, with choreography by Julia Cheng.

Casting and additional information TBA.

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  The world premiere of Joe DiPietro’s Sinatra The Musical will run Sept. 23 – Oct. 8 at the UK’s Birmingham Rep, directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, with music supervision by Gareth Valentine.

  Matt Doyle, and more TBA.

It’s New Year’s Eve 1942 as a 27-year-old Italian-American singer is about to step onto the stage of New York’s Paramount Theatre. As Sinatra’s career skyrockets, he struggles with balancing the love of his wife, Nancy, against the demands and temptations of his career. When he begins an affair with Ava Gardner, his records stop selling and the press turns against him, but one of the greatest comebacks in showbiz will follow.

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  Daniel Reichard: It’s You I Like will return to NYC’s Birdland on Mon. July 31 at 7 PM.

. This is Daniel’s brand new autobiographical show.

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  Here We Are, Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, formerly titled Square One, will have a limited run beginning in September (dates TBA) at The Shed, directed by Joe Mantello.

Casting and additional information TBA.

In 2021, The New York Times reported that Sondheim and Ives had abandoned the project, but conflicting reports in the months after reported that the pair was not done with the idea. Sondheim died in 2021, with the musical unfinished. It is unclear if additional writers have been brought on to complete the score.

  The musical draws inspiration from the films “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgoisie” (1972) and “The Exterminating Angel” (1962), in which both are set at surrealist dinner parties. The musical is about “trying to find a place to have dinner.” The first deals with interruptions to dinner, the second is about “people who have dinner and can’t leave,” which “is my cheerful view of the world today.”

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The 1998 London production of Oklahoma, starring Hugh Jackman, directed by Trevor Nunn, with new choreography by Susan Stroman, will screen for two days only (July 16 and July 19) in 840+ theaters around the globe.    here.

  Hugh Jackman (Curly), Maureen Lipman (Aunt Eller), Josefina Gabrielle (Laurie), Shuler Hensley (Jud Fry), Vicki Simon (Ado Annie), Jimmy Johnston (Will Parker), Peter Polycarpou (Ali Hakim), and more…

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   Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, written & directed by Richard Hellesen, starring John Rubinstein, has been extended through Aug. 20 at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Clements.

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  Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Malvolio, an irreverent comedy sequel inspired by Twelfth Night, continues through July 29 at Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, directed by Ian Belknap & Ty Jones.  here.

Allen Gilmore (Malvolio), John-Andrew Morrison (King Chadlio), Stephanie Berry (Olivia), Perry Gaffney (Viola), Paula Galloway (Maria), Mattthew J Harris (Fool), Marjorie Johnson (Nurse), Kineta Kunutu (Volina), Garbriel Lawrence (Orsino), Tony Macht (Valentin), Collin McConnell (Curious), JD Mollison (Prince Furtado), CB Murray (Rather Topas), Nathan M. Ramsey (Sebastian), and David Ryan Smith (Sir Toby Belch), with Déjà Anderson-Ross, Marcus Byers Jr., Taylor Collier, John DeFilippo, Brynlie Helmich, Valériane Louisy, Al-Nisa Petty, Duane Shabazz, Jonathan McClinton Smith, and Timothy Wilson.

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   The Public Theater has announced casting for its production of The Tempest, to run Aug. 27 – Sept. 3 at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, directed by Laurie Woolery, with choreography by Tiffany Rea-Fisher, and with songs by Benjamin Velez.

  Renée Elise Goldsberry (Prospero), Tristan André (Sebastian), Sabrina Cedeño (Trinculo), Anthony Chatmon II (Antonio), Jo Lampert (Ariel), and Joél Pérez (Stephano), Theo Stockman (Caliban), with Brianna Cabrera, Patrick O’Hare, and Edwin Rivera, along with the Oyu Oro Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble.

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Concert presentations of Jeremy Desmon & Jeff Thomson’s Pump Up the Volume, a new musical in development, will take place July 14-16 at the Adirondack Theatre Festival, directed by Dave Solomon.

  Graham Rowat (Lieutenant Hunter), Michele Ragusa (Principle Cresswood), Liam Pearce (Mark/Hard Harry), Christina Jones (Nora), Michael Morley (Malcoln), John El-Jor (Mazz),  Lison Tunick (Paige), Haley Beauregard (Stacey), Alexandra Cooke (Tracie), and Richard Putorti (Ricky), with Lauren Taylor Berkman and vinnie Canale.

Mark, a teen outcast, rocks a small town by launching an underground pirate radio station from his bedroom.

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  The world premiere of Jiggs Burgess’ The Red Suitcase will run Aug. 10 – Sept. 3 (opening Aug. 12) at the Broadwater Theatre (1076 Lillian Way), directed by Del Shores.

  Emerson Collins (Pogue), Kristen McCullough (April), Bruce Melena (Bud), Charlotte Louise White (Grandma Evans), Mat Hayes (Player 1), Pam Trotter (Player 2), and Tiago Santos (Player 3).

  The play follows the life of Pogue from his unusual birth to the death of his father. The play explores the sometimes difficult relationship between fathers and sons and the many moments, stories, and characters that build a person and a life. Pogue is led on a journey to unpack his memories that takes him from “we are the sins of our ancestors” to “we are the hope our ancestors.”

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  VideoKaterina McCrimmon, star of the upcoming Funny Girl national tour, performs “People” (starts at 29:56).

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  David Cale’s solo play, Harry Clarke, will run Nov. 15 – Dec. 23 at CA’s Berkeley Rep, directed by Leigh Silverman.

  Billy Crudup

A sexually charged and wickedly funny one-man thriller. The story of a shy Midwestern man leading an outrageous double life as the cocky Londoner Harry Clarke. Moving to New York City and presenting himself as an Englishman, he charms his way into a wealthy family’s life as the seductive and precocious Harry, whose increasingly risky and dangerous behavior threatens to undo more than his persona. Crudup plays 19 roles over the course of the play.

 


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